National Aeronautics and Space Administration

TFAWS 2022 Short Course

Rapid Thermal Design,
Modeling, and Analysis of
Spaceflight Instruments
Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Integrated Design Center
Kan Yang1, Hume Peabody2, Rachel Rivera1

Civil Servant, Code 550, NASA GSFC

1

Civil Servant, Code 545, NASA GSFC

2

Note: Reference in this course to any specific

commercial products, process, service,
manufacturer, company, or trademark does not
constitute its endorsement or recommendation by
the U.S. Government or TFAWS

NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Introduction to Rapid Thermal Design of
Spaceflight Instruments
• This course provides a general overview of how to conduct rapid instrument thermal
design, modeling, and analysis, as informed by the processes in NASA’s design labs
• For typical flight projects, thermal engineers will develop initial instrument thermal models
then iterate them over a project’s lifespan
– A model is developed for initial concept studies, perhaps over weeks or months
– The model is then refined by the thermal engineer in the subsequent months or years
between each of the major project milestones: Mission Concept Review (MCR),
Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), Systems Integration
Review (SIR), etc. In each iteration, the engineer will:
• Refine their thermal models and thermal designs in accordance with updates from other
subsystems
• Perform trade studies
• Solve very detailed and complex analysis problems, including worst-cases and contingencies
• Pick hardware and plan for testing and integration
• However, prior to a project being established, and especially for proposal development at
an early conceptual stage, the luxury of multiple instrument design iterations may be
limited or nonexistent
– Within a short timeline, how do you complete a thermal model or explore multiple
possible instrument configurations?
– What are the critical parameters for your model? Which details do you include or
leave out?
2 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 NASA’s Design Labs

• NASA maintains design labs at many of its centers and facilities to develop rapid
instrument and mission concepts
– These labs require each supporting discipline engineer to quickly analyze and develop
a design within a few days to a few weeks to create a finished product consistent
between all subsystems
– The processes practiced by NASA’s design labs provide ideal guidelines for
understanding how to conduct rapid thermal design, modeling and analysis
• Of course, there are many other design labs in government, industry and academia, and
multiple ways to approach the challenges of rapid conceptual design
• For this lecture, we will be focusing on guidelines from the Instrument Design Laboratory,
part of the Integrated Design Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
3 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Rapid Thermal Design in the IDC
• GSFC’s Integrated Design Center (IDC) provides an environment that facilitates multi-
disciplinary, concurrent, collaborative, space system engineering design and analysis
activities, to allow rapid development of science instrumentation and mission architecture
concepts
– The IDC has been in existence since 1997, and its Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL),
through hundreds of instrument studies, has refined and sharpened its process for
rapid instrument design
• Thermal modeling for the IDL has been adapted to a dynamic engineering
environment where all subsystems are working together towards a consistent point
design within a few days
– The guidelines in this short course originate from the experience and lessons learned
over two decades of IDL thermal design
• Objectives of this short course:
– To provide a condensed guide for the most efficient way to develop thermal
models and conduct thermal analysis within one to two weeks
– To quantify the resources needed to provide thermal control for the focus
instrument
– To describe specific tall poles and/or lessons learned for each type of instrument
across the electromagnetic spectrum, including astronaut-deployed instruments

4 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Overview

Rapid Thermal Design Process

• Rapid Thermal Design Process
1. Determine Boundary Conditions
2. Determine Worst-Case Thermal Environments Thermal
3. Gather Thermal Inputs from Other Disciplines Requirements!
4. Determine Your Temperature “Zones”
5. Build a Preliminary Thermal Model
6. Iterate Technical Design with Other Disciplines
7. Perform Model Checks
• Typical Discipline Analysis Products

Specific Instrument Thermal Design Examples

• This section features the following types of instruments: Microwave/RF (Passive, Active),
Optical (Passively Cooled Detector, Actively Cooled Detector, Sub-Kelvin Detector), Laser,
X-Ray, Gamma Ray, Astronaut-Operated (External, Internal), Robotic Planetary Landers
– Includes tall poles and/or lessons learned for each instrument example

5 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 RAPID THERMAL DESIGN
PROCESS

6 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 1. Determine Boundary Conditions
• For instruments: determine where the instrument will be mounted with respect to the
spacecraft
– If this information is not available yet (or if a particular spacecraft has not been chosen
yet), make assumptions to spacecraft interface temperature and orientation with
respect to the spacecraft bus
• For Microwave/RF or Optical instruments: Ensure the Radio Frequency (RF) or Optical
engineers have solidified their component placements before thermal modeling starts
– Even small changes to the Microwave/RF or Optical designs can result in vastly
different mechanical packaging and thermal control methods, so it is critical that their
designs are “frozen” before thermal modeling begins
• Establish a common coordinate system: allows for easy reference and communication
with the other members of your team. Ensure that this is consistent with other analytical
models as well (mechanical CAD, structures, optical, etc.)

7 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 2. Determine Worst-Case Thermal Environments
• A simple cube model (1m3) is sufficient to discretely quantify temperature changes due to
heat flux on each side of the spacecraft’s thermal environment, and determine your worst-
case thermal environments for Earth or other planetary orbits (including moons)
– With one arithmetic node on each side of the cube and coatings properties of α=1, ε=1,
this allows for a rapid way to examine your heat fluxes per orbit and determine which
sides are suitable for radiators, and which sides require Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI)
– Simple trade studies can also be performed with different coatings / MLI
– If thermal stability is a concern, a cube model is a great testbed for materials and
corresponding thicknesses to achieve the desired thermal mass / thermal stability
– If resultant temperatures are not cold enough for passive thermal control, an Earth
shield or planetary shield may be needed

+Y
-Z

Source: NASA/K.Yang
Typically
Nadir Side
-X +X
+Z Typically
Ram Side
Cube in Earth Orbit
-Y Screenshot from Thermal Desktop™

8 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 2. Determine Worst-Case Thermal Environments
• Cube models are also a great place to start for
sunshield design
– Number of sunshield layers, spacing between layers,
and sunshield coatings can be traded until acceptable
average temperatures are achieved on your cube

Source: NASA/K.Yang
• In more exotic environments, such as for planetary
landers, it is extremely helpful to understand the
environmental parameters needed for thermal
modeling beforehand:
– Atmospheric composition (if there is an atmosphere),
and equivalent convective coefficients at different layers
Sunshield Design with a Cube Thermal Model
of the atmosphere
– Cold sky temperatures
– Diffuse sky radiation / heating Cold Sky Temperature
Diffuse sky heating
– Average ground temperatures (day/night, profiles)
– Position of the sun / other celestial bodies (vector list,
heat flux): this may not be necessary if the planetary Solar Flux Vector vs. Planetary Flux
atmosphere is sufficiently thick Time Vector vs. Time
– In complex deep space or planetary orbits, it may be Lander

easier to establish your orbit as a list of vectors from the Atmospheric Composition,
Convective Coefficient h
position of the sun/moon etc. over time, and their
corresponding heat fluxes
Ground Temperature vs. Time

Planetary Lander Thermal Considerations

9 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 3. Gather Thermal Inputs from Other Disciplines
• Common Sources (Disciplines typically involved with early spaceflight instrument design)
– Detectors and Electro-optical: temperature requirement, temperature stability requirement, power
dissipation, quantity, geometry and dimensions, mass, coatings
– Electrical: Number of boxes, power dissipation, dimensions, mass, temperature requirement
– Mechanical: Mechanical packaging, geometry, dimensions, mass, material, location of boxes,
spacecraft thermal interface information, radiator placement
– Optical: Temperature requirement, temperature stability, gradient requirement, quantity, geometry
and dimensions, mass, coatings
– RF/Communications and RF/Microwave: Power dissipation, temperature requirement, stability or
gradient requirement
– Reliability: Redundancy requirement, temperatures desired to maximize reliability
– Structural: Material selection, material thickness
– Systems: Summary of thermal design requirements, orbital parameters, mass/power allocations for
thermal components (if applicable), Attitude Control: sun avoidance angle, pitch/roll/yaw angles
• Unique sources
– Contamination: Specific thermal coatings and degradation, outgas heater if required
– Cryogenics: Cryocooler compressor power dissipation, temperature requirement, Cryocooler cold
head temperature, Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator (ADR) and cryocooler thermal interfaces
– Integration & Testing: Special Ground Support Equipment (GSE) e.g., Helium sink
– Lasers: Power dissipation, temperature requirement, temperature stability requirement
– Mechanisms: Temperature requirement, geometry, dimensions, power dissipation
– Power: Battery temperature requirement, power profile

10 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 4. Determine Temperature “Zones”
• Temperature “Zones” help define your design requirements early on, and aid in grouping
components with similar thermal requirements
• In addition to operational and survival temperature limits, ensure that you are capturing any
temperature gradient and temperature stability requirements for specific components
– Identify areas where thermal control may be challenging
• For design studies, it may be more effective for systems engineers to coordinate the
gathering of thermal requirements and determination of thermal zones

Zone 1 (Z1): Zone 2 (Z2): Zone 3 (Z3): Zone 4 (Z4):

Op. Limit: 268-298 K Op. Limit: 81 K Op. Limit: 150-160 K Op. Limit: 273-313 K
Surv. Limit: 258-308 K Surv. Limit: 65 K Surv. Limit: 120-313 K Surv. Limit: 233-333 K
Gradient: 4K Gradient: N/A Gradient: N/A Gradient: N/A
Stability: 2K / hr Stability: 5 mK / 2 min Stability: N/A Stability: N/A
Detector Enclosure
Zone 2
Optical Components Zone 3 Zone 4
Zone 1
Detector

Baffling or Front End

Window Electronics Electrical Wires Electronics
Box
Isolators

Optical Bench Mounting Plate

11 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 5. Build a Preliminary Thermal Model

Before you begin

• Have a list of common thermo-physical and optical properties already available (in
Thermal Desktop™, this would be a common .tdp or .rco file)
• Have a list of common thermal conductances, especially for thermal interface materials
• Start with a template thermal model file populated with simple shapes (in primitives /
shells):
– Rectangular prism (for spacecraft buses, electronics boxes etc.)
– Cylinder (cylindrical buses, rotating components, struts etc.)
– Flat plate (for optical benches, radiators. This can also be a honeycomb panel with
honeycomb core properties already built in)
– Disk (for mirrors, lenses, filter wheels)
– Paraboloid (for antennas)
– Sphere, spheroid (for propulsion tanks, pressure vessels etc.)
– Heat Pipe (an already-modeled heat pipe can be extremely useful)

• These shapes can be repositioned, rotated, and re-dimensioned to match a mechanical

CAD file
– You do not need to start with a “final” mechanical model; start with a basic model and
refine later as the mechanical design matures

12 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 5. Build a Preliminary Thermal Model
Model Building Tips
• Start with generic values for interfaces that are not yet well-defined
– Contactors preferred over conductors. Based on mounting pressure, a relatively
isolated interface can be 0.8 – 1.0 W/m2K, while a more conductive interface can be
250 – 500 W/m2K
– For conductors: establish connectivity first, and determine if it is well-coupled (1-5 W/K
or greater) vs. isolated (< 0.1 W/K)
• Use primitive shapes over finite elements: this allows for quick re-discretization of the
mesh
– Disabling a node within a surface can represent a hole or edge notch
• Do not start with too detailed of a nodal discretization; you can always refine later
• Apply heat loads to surfaces rather than nodes, if possible
• Use symbols for quick modification of parameters later
– Symbols are especially helpful with conductances, heat loads, and
translations/rotations for any moving assemblies
• Use steady-state analyses when possible

13 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Worst-Case Thermal Analysis
• Worst Case Stacked Parameters for Thermal Analysis in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)*
Hot Case Cold Case
Solar Flux 1412 W/m2 1322 W/m2
Albedo 0.35 0.25
Earth IR 267 W/m2 211 W/m2
Component Power Max.: Head Load with Contingency Min./ Off: Heat Load Best Estimate (No
Dissipation Contingency)
MLI Blanketing Less effective emissivity on cold side, More effective emissivity on cold side,
ε* ≈ 0.01 ε* ≈ 0.05
Radiator Coating End-of-Life Properties Beginning-of-Life Properties
(higher α, lower ε) (lower α, higher ε)

• Use hot case to size radiators

• Use cold case to size heaters
• Survival case: use reduced operational configuration, ensure that sufficient heater circuits
and power are available to meet survival limits

* Note: these values are representative of thermal parameters for a nominally circular Low
Earth Orbit, typically < 1000 km altitude above the Earth’s surface. These parameters may
vary greatly for another planetary or deep space orbit, and are highly dependent on
instrument orientation.

14 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Thermal Hardware Mass and Power

Mass Power Comments

Multi-Layer Insulation 0.73 kg/m 2
0W Based on 15 layers

Kapton Heaters 0.36 kg/m2 Various, based on heater Based on 10-mil thick Kapton
power requirements heaters
Thermostats 6 grams each 0W

Thermistors / Thermal Sensors 1-3 grams each ~0 W

Heat Pipes (Ammonia) 0.15 kg/m 0 W for Constant Mass per unit length
Conductance Heat Pipes Add 1-3 kg each for VCHP
~10 W for Variable reservoirs
Conductance Heat Pipe
(VCHP) Control
Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator 2-5 kg 10-30 W Control Power

Radiator Panels 3.3 kg/m2 0W Mass based on Aluminum

Honeycomb radiator
Add heat pipe mass if
embedded
Electronic Controllers 0.2 kg 1-3 W each

Sources: Space Mission Analysis and Design, 3rd Edition [1]; NASA GSFC Thermal Engineering Branch Standards

15 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Notes about Thermal Mass and Power
• Historically, thermal subsystem mass is about 2-10% of spacecraft/instrument
dry mass:
– Purely passive thermal design closer to 2% range
– Active thermal design closer to 10% range
– Bulk of mass is MLI and any specialized thermal components

• Thermal control power estimates normally only consist of heater power, unless
electronic controllers are used
• Power estimates are divided in two groups:
– Operational: use coldest operational scenario with mechanical thermostats and
electronic controllers with PID control (sometimes handled through flight software)
– Survival: use coldest survival scenario. Circuits should be controlled in most
reliable manner, usually with mechanical thermostats and not flight software; only
circuits with critical component limits have survival heating applied

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 Typical Component Temperature Ranges
• The table below shows common temperature ranges for typical spaceflight instrument
components
– Note, these are solely examples which may be used for early conceptual design
– Each piece of spaceflight hardware is different and has different temperature requirements. As
your design progresses, please consult vendors for the appropriate temperature requirements
applicable to your instrument
Typical Temperature Ranges (°C)
Operational Survival Stability
range
Component
(°C, if
Min Max Min Max applicable)

Electronics Boxes (Including Cryocooler Control Electronics, Digital

-10 40 -40 60
Signal Processors, and Laser Control Electronics)
Antennas -100 100 -120 120
Batteries 0 25 -10 35
Mechanisms 10 40 -40 60
Optical or Laser Bench (Near-IR, Visible, UV; often require
5 35 -20 40 ±2
stringent thermal stability)

Lasers (often require stringent thermal stability) 20 40 -20 60 ±1

RF Components (Analog) -10 40 -25 60 ±2

Cryocooler Thermo-Mechanical Units 5 45 -35 70
X-Ray Sources 0 30 -20 50

17 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Typical Detector Temperature Ranges
• Detector temperature ranges vary greatly based on instrument application
– The table below shows typical detector operational temperatures based on instrument type
– Of course, each spaceflight instrument is different, and detector temperature is highly dependent
on the science, the wavelengths you're trying to measure, and temperatures needed to achieve
acceptable radiometric performance.
– For the particular instrument you are conducting thermal design and analysis, consult the detectors
engineer or vendor and the optical/radiometric engineer for your specific detector temperature
requirements
Typical Operational Thermal Stability
Portion of Temperatures Requirements
Wavelength
Electromagnetic Example Detector Types
Range More Less
Spectrum Low High
Stringent Stringent
> 1 mm Microwave and RF Microwave / RF Receivers 260 310 ± 0.1 ±2
Sub-mm
Heterodyne Receiver (SIS, HEB), TES
25 um - 1 mm wavelengths / <1 40 ± 0.1 ±1
bolometers
Terahertz range
Mid-Infrared to Far-
2.5 um - 25 um HgCdTe, TES, Ge:Ga Photoconductors <1 100 ± 0.001 ±1
Infrared
750 nm - 2.5 HgCdTe, InGaAs, InSb, STJ, TES,
Near-Infrared 50 170 ± 0.001 ±1
um Si<1100nm
400 nm - 750
Visible Si CCD, Si CMOS, photodiodes, STJ 170 340 ± 0.005 ±1
nm
1 nm - 400 nm GaN, MAMA, Microchannel 270 340 ± 0.005 ±1
Ultraviolet
EMCCD, CCD, CMOS 170 200 ± 0.001 ±1
Gas-filled, Scintillation, Microchannel,
270 330 ± 0.1 ±5
1 pm - 1 nm CdZnTe
X-Ray CCD, CMOS 170 200 ± 0.001 ±1
TES < 0.1 1 ± 0.0005 < ± 0.001
CMOS, Scintillator, CsI, SiPM, CCD, Strip
18 < 10 m Gamma Ray NASA80Thermal & Fluids
300 Analysis±Workshop,
0.1 Sep± 6-9,
1 2022
-12
Detectors
 6. Iterate Technical Design with Other Disciplines
• These technical exchanges and iterations with other engineering disciplines are common
to a majority of early design studies:
Topic of Design Iteration Dependencies Areas of Pushback if This Becomes a Concern

Radiator: Size, Location, Orbit (ACS), Available Are there other faces where additional radiators can be
Material, Coating Volume (Mechanical), placed? Can volume allocation increase? Can the radiator
Available Mass (Mechanical) be thicker or have heat pipes embedded? Can operational
loads be reduced or temperature requirements be made
less stringent?
Heater: Size, Power, Available Power Can temperature requirements be made less stringent?
Placement (Electrical/Power), Can Electrical provide more power? Can the heater be
Temperature Constraints (All placed closer to the component or directly on the
Disciplines) component? Can Electrical accommodate more heater
services?
Thermal Transport or Temperature/ Gradient/ Rate Can temperature limits, stability, or gradient requirements
Thermal Isolation: Size, Constraints (All Disciplines), be made less stringent? Can the placement be changed
Location, Material Placement and Available for a certain thermally challenging component?
Mass (Mechanical)
Cryogenic Components: Temperature/ Gradient/ Rate What design compromises between cryogenic isolator A/L
parasitics to cryogenic Constraints (All Disciplines), can be achieved with the structural engineer? Can
temperature zones, Wires / Harnesses windows to a cryogenic enclosure be made smaller to
cryocooler heat rejection, (Electrical), Placement and minimize radiative parasitics? What wire material choices
location of temperature Available Mass (Mechanical) can be made to minimize conductive parasitics? Can
• In the IDL and MDL: Sometimes, you may
intercepts component
run heat dissipations
out of time to close yourbe smaller? Can design.
thermal cryocoolers /
CCEs be positioned optimally for thermal control?
Do not worry: this is not uncommon. Please document in your presentation your
Thermal Sensors Electrical Architecture Can more thermal sensors be accommodated by
assumptions and future work required to closeElectrical?
the design.

19 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 7. Perform Model Checks

Once a preliminary thermal design is established, perform these checks on your analytical
model before running:
• Is your instrument (or spacecraft) oriented correctly with respect to the orbit?
– Do a sanity check with the cube model. Are the temperatures what you’d expect for the cold side?
For the planet-facing or sun-facing sides?
• Run a connectivity check: add a heat load at one end of the model and a boundary node at the other.
Exclude radiation to determine if any unconnected nodes exist
• Are there any duplicate nodes or surfaces? Overlapping or coplanar surfaces?
• Check active sides and optical properties: are they what you’d expect?
• Are your MLI nodes on the correct sides? Are they arithmetic? Do they have correct ε* values?
• Do contactors make contact as expected? Are they connecting the correct sides or edges?
• Are the correct power dissipations applied in the correct cases? (symbols really help here)
• For spinning components or articulators: are the correct surfaces spinning? When the articulator is set
to a different value, do the correct surfaces move?
• Any view factor sums not close to 1, or thermal masses (mC p) much higher than average?
• Are heaters controlling to the expected temperatures? Are any heaters saturated?

20 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Typical Goals from Rapid Thermal Analysis
Analysis Goal or
Deliverable
Temperature control
approach and design,
including block diagram and
Thermal model
Location and number of
Temperature Controllers and
Sensors
21
Required Information from
Science Team
- Required Temperature and
Stability of all instrument
components
- Observatory orbit
- Operation’s Concept
Required Temperature and Stability
of all instrument components
Required
Assumptions (and/or
Information from
Derivations by
Other Discipline
Thermal Engineer)
Engineers
- Orbit Thermal Environment
(Environmental Heat
Fluxes)
- Beta angle and Eclipse
duration for LEO missions
- Use of Conductive Coatings
- Nominal temperature range
if instrument is embedded
within observatory or
- Component mass
spacecraft (S/C)
- Bounding hot, cold, and
and power
- Instrument volume survival cases
- Considerations needed for
ground testing
- Design limitations vs.
thermal constraints
- Ability of thermal design to
meet requirements
- Integration and Testing
(I&T) considerations, such
as heat pipe orientation
NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Typical Goals from Rapid Thermal Analysis

Required Information Assumptions (and/or

Analysis Goal or Required Information
from Other Discipline Derivations by
Deliverable from Science Team
Engineers Thermal Engineer)

- Harness specifications (if

Parasitic loads onto assessing conductive
cryogenic regions (e.g. parasitics)
detectors) - Detector Enclosure design
for radiative loads
- Coatings and MLI ε*
Coating recommendations
properties: indicate
for Radiators and/or MLI
assumptions
- Component mass and - Orbit screenshots may
- Gradient requirement (if
Temperature contour maps power allow for visualization of
applicable) - Instrument volume worst-cases
Required Instrument - Electrical and mechanical
- Operational component
Operational and Survival components survival
temperature range
Heater power temperature range
Incorporate Power - Powered element’s duty - Power used by all powered
Dissipation from powered cycle. (Based on elements based on duty
instrument components operations concept) cycle
Quantification of - Mass of thermal
engineering resources for components
thermal control, including - Composition
generation of a Master - Vendors / heritage
Equipment List (MEL) or a - Technology Readiness
Bill of Materials (BOM) Level (TRL) assumptions

22 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Typical Goals from Rapid Thermal Analysis

Required Information Assumptions (and/or

Analysis Goal or Required Information
from Other Discipline Derivations by
Deliverable from Science Team
Engineers Thermal Engineer)

- Required duration of zone

- Bounding hot/cold/survival
Thermal Transient temperature stability
- Range of Temperature - Mass of instrument cases vs. requirements
Temperature within a - Graphs of temperature vs.
components
Thermal Zone external to Instrument (if
time
planetary)
- Surface area available for
-Operational S/C or radiator mounting - If a solar shield or Earth
Instrument nominal and - Available sides on the shield is required to achieve
Radiator placement and
worse case orientation (and instrument or spacecraft desired radiator
orientation
slewing) with respect to Sun, for radiator placement temperatures, and if this is
Earth and moon - Is there a dedicated cold deployable vs. fixed
side to the spacecraft?
- Operational S/C or
Instrument nominal and
worse case orientation (and
Required Radiator size and - Component power
slewing) with respect to Sun,
Temperature per Thermal - Instrument volume
Earth and moon
zone
- Notional distance from
instrument to radiator location
on S/C

23 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 How this comes together: an example of a rapid
design schedule in the IDL
Week 1: Pre-Study Week 2: Study Week Week 3: Study Wrap-Up

M T W H F M T W H F
Pre-Work Possibility of Targeted
Design Days
Internal
Working
Day
M T W H F
Presen- Internal
tations Wrap-up
Meeting Pre-study Meetings

The thermal engineer, from their
pre-work meeting information,
determines:
1. Boundary Conditions
2. Worst-case thermal
environments
Thermal engineer also meets
with other discipline engineers
for targeted discussions of
thermal challenge areas, such
as thermal and cryogenic zone
interfaces, etc.
“Pre-Work Meeting”:
• The Principal Investigator (PI) or
members of the science team are
asked to introduce their instrument
concept to the entire engineering
team
• The Thermal Engineer is responsible
for ensuring they have their design
requirements, and requesting
information from the PI if they do not
have enough for their assessment
24
“Design Days”:
Engineers design concurrently and
collaboratively with PI/Science Team
via a series of discussions, each
focused on specific topics which
impact the conceptual design and
are aimed towards reaching a
design decision. Thermal engineer
should:
3. Gather model inputs via
exchanges with other discipline
engineers
4. Determine temperature “zones”
with help from Systems
Engineers
5. Set up thermal model
6. Iterate technical design with
other disciplines, including
identifying thermal challenge
areas and pushing back when
necessary
NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
Engineers Engineers quantify and
present their document the engineering
assessments to resources necessary for their
the PI / Science discipline. For thermal:
Team radiator area, number of
heaters, operational /
survival heater power,
number of sensors etc.
Design is “Frozen”:
Major discussion on the design completes so that
the engineering team can focus on quantification of
resources and ensuring consistency of design
across disciplines
Thermal engineer is provided with engineering
resources of the “frozen” design for all major
components (mass, volume, power, etc.), as well
as a Mechanical CAD model
7. Thermal engineer completes modeling with the
“final” parameters, performs model checks, and
generates analysis results
 SPECIFIC INSTRUMENT
THERMAL DESIGN EXAMPLES

25 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Instruments Across the Electromagnetic
Spectrum

Image Source: NASA/Creative Commons

Instrument
Type Microwave or Radio Frequency Optical Instruments, X-Ray Gamma Ray
(RF) Instruments Laser Instruments Instruments Instruments
Source: NOAA/F. Weng

Source: NTRS/D. Patel

Source: NASA/GSFC
Source: NASA/JWST

Source: NASA/PACE
Instrument
Source: NASA

Source: [7]
Examples

Soil Moisture ActiveAdvanced Technology Mid-Infrared Advanced Topographic Ocean Color Soft X-Ray Large Area
Passive (SMAP) [2] Microwave Sounder Instrument Laser Altimeter System Instrument Spectrometer on Telescope
(ATMS) on JPSS [3] (MIRI) on (ATLAS) on ICESat-2 [5] (OCI) on PACE Hitomi [7] (LAT) on Fermi
JWST [4] [8]

26 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Microwave and Radio Frequency Instruments:
Passive
• Ensure that Antenna and feedhorn placement is “frozen” before starting thermal modeling
• Individual RF components do not need to be modeled: they are typically within an RF box or bench
– Conglomerating the heat dissipations for all RF components and spreading over a box or bench is sufficient
resolution at this stage of thermal design
– Provide thermal control on the RF bench or box enclosure to meet requirements: for radiometers, this may require
strict thermal stability requirements for components upstream of the first low-noise amplification stage
• Waveguides from an antenna/feedhorn to an RF box may also have strict operational temperature and
thermal stability requirements
– Can be modeled as tubes, similar to propulsion lines, and controlled via blanketing and line heaters
– However, waveguide components within an RF box or bench do not need to be modeled
• Downstream electronics boxes (to digitize or process the RF signal) may have proximity requirements
to the RF box
– If this is the case, there may be a succession of multiple high-heat-dissipating boxes next to each other. Use a
common radiator if possible.

Antenna Reflector
Waveguide transition

Feedhorn Waveguide RF Electronics

Receiver Box

Mounting or Radiator Plate

Thermally isolating mounts LEGEND
MLI
Heater
27 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Microwave and Radio Frequency Instruments:
Active
• The same RF thermal design considerations from passive systems carry over to active systems, but
there is now the addition of high heat dissipation transmitter components
– Power Amplifiers tend to be the largest source of heat dissipation
– Power Distribution Units can also contribute to large amounts of heat dissipation
• Many active and passive systems use a rotating reflector
– A “fast spin” option in thermal analysis software can sufficiently capture the thermal effects of this component motion
– Spinning mechanisms can have large heat dissipations from their motors, and require thermal control to ensure that
their mechanical lubricants and drive electronics do not exceed temperature requirements
– Deployable reflectors (using mesh material and ribs/stiffeners) are becoming more common. While these typically
don’t require thermal control, their material properties (including transmissivity) need to be correctly captured
• Feedhorns and waveguide transitions may require thermal control as well, but typically only thermal
knowledge is needed (via thermal sensors)
• Many active and passive systems also use external calibrators: “hot” targets need to be maintained
with strict operational temperature limits/stability; “cold” targets view deep space
Spin
Mech- Antenna Reflector
Electrical Wires
anism Waveguide transition
RF
Feedhorn Waveguide Transmitter Electronics
/ Receiver Box

Mounting or Radiator Plate

“Hot” calibration target
Thermally isolating mounts LEGEND
MLI
Heater
28 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Optical Instruments
• Optical instruments typically encompass the infrared (IR), visible, and ultraviolet
(UV) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum
– Infrared instruments typically require cryogenic operational temperatures and strict
temperature stability and gradient limits
– Visible and UV instruments typically do not have cryogenic temperature requirements
• Ensure that optical model and optical element placement is “frozen” before
starting thermal modeling
– Otherwise, a change in optical component placement after you’re started modeling will
have huge impacts to your thermal design, especially for cryogenic temperature
regions/zones
• Use your requirements to determine what’s thermally important to model
– There may be extremely complex optics, but if the optical bench has a thermal
requirement and not the individual optical elements, it may be sufficient to just model
the bench
– Heat dissipating components which have low duty cycles (< 1%) or only require one-
time actuations may not need to have their heat loads modeled at all

29 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Optical Instruments
• The following pages give guidelines for preliminary thermal design of optical
instruments, for detectors with successively more difficult thermal requirements
– For detectors with cryogenic requirements, the thermal and/or cryogenics engineer
should focus most of their design effort on the cryogenic enclosure for the detector,
since parasitic heat tends to be a large contributor (sometimes even more than detector
heat dissipation) to total heat within cryogenic zones
• Keep a detailed list early on of all of the components which dissipate heat and have
high thermal conductivity
– For detector enclosures, these are common early design compromises that need to be
made:
• With the structural engineer: determine acceptable Area / Length (A/L) and materials
for supporting the detector enclosure
• With the optical engineer: determine acceptable cutout and baffle sizes (if there is no
window present); agree on acceptable coatings for windows or enclosure walls to
minimize radiative parasitics while ensuring optical signal.
• With the electrical engineer: agree on electrical wiring material and cross-section that
ensures electrical signal while minimizing conductive parasitics; note that this may be
the largest source of conductive parasitics

30 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Optical Instruments: Passively Cooled Detector
• The detector temperature requirements and stabilities typically dictate how complex of a thermal
enclosure you may require (if any at all), if MLI is needed, and if passive thermal control is feasible
– The possibility for passive thermal control may hinge upon distance from the detector to the radiator, and length of
heat strap or heat pipe required: an early design compromise with the optical engineer may be orienting the overall
optical design and/or any upstream fold mirrors to position the detector close to the cold side of your spacecraft
• Take note of any optics with more stringent temperature requirements or heat dissipations, such as a
scan mirror with an active mechanism
– If there are optical components which require active heating, determine from the optical engineer whether a heater
can be directly mounted, or if it requires indirect radiative heating (from a nearby heated plate, for example)
• Front End Electronics (FEE) and Electronics Boxes typically have different
LEGEND (warmer, more relaxed) thermal requirements than the detector: placement of
MLI
these components may be negotiated with the electrical engineer to minimize
Heater
Isolator parasitics into the detector
Heat Strap
Elec. Wire Radiator
Heat Strap Detector Enclosure
Optical Components
Detector

Baffling or Front End

Window Electronics Electronics
Box

Optical Bench Mounting Plate

31 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Optical Instruments: Actively Cooled Detector
• A traditional mechanical cryocooler is represented here to actively cool the detector, but depending on
the heat dissipations and reject temperatures, a Thermo-Electric Cooler (TEC) can also be used
– For mechanical coolers, a multi-stage cooler may be necessary depending on thermal requirements
– Mechanical coolers tend to have high heat dissipations for both their thermo-mechanical units and cryocooler
electronics, and may require a separate radiator (try to position strategically with respect to cold side of spacecraft)
– Modeling of cryolines is inconsequential in early thermal design
• A Digital Readout Integrated Circuit (DROIC) with an on-chip Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC) may
seem attractive to the detector designer since it doesn’t require a separate FEE, but this tends to result
in much higher heat dissipations within the cryogenic zones, and consequently a
more powerful cryocooler than a traditional detector with analog Readout
LEGEND Integrated Circuit (ROIC) and separate (warmer) FEE
MLI
Heater
Isolator Cryocooler Cryocooler Thermo-
Heat Strap Cold Tip Cryoline Mechanical Unit
Elec. Wire
Heat Strap Detector Enclosure
Optical Components
Detector

Baffling or Front End Cryocooler

Window Electronics Electronics Control
Box Electronics
(CCE)

Optical Bench Mounting Plate

32 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Optical Instruments: Sub-Kelvin Detector (1 of 2)
• Sub-Kelvin detectors (below 1 K) present a unique thermal challenge due to the multiple required
stages of thermal cooling, as well as the use of multiple methods of active thermal control
– At the coldest thermal zone, conductive parasitics may dominate total heat contributions within this zone
– Under 50K, radiative parasitics may be orders of magnitude smaller than conductive parasitics and detector
dissipation: radks can be reduced or omitted altogether in the coldest thermal enclosures

Cryoline, Possible
Cryocooler Cold Additional Stages Cryocooler Thermo-
Tip Mechanical Unit

LEGEND Heat Strap Intermediate Cryogenic Enclosure

MLI
Heater Adiabatic ADR
Isolator
Heat Strap Demagnetization Control
Refrigerator

Harness Heat
Elec. Wire Electronics

Intercept(s)
Heat Strap Sub-K Detector
Optical Components Enclosure
Detector

Baffling or Front End Cryocooler

Windows Electronics Electronics Control
Box Electronics
(CCE)

Optical Bench Mounting Plate

33 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Optical Instruments: Sub-Kelvin Detector (2 of 2)
• Design of sub-Kelvin systems is dominated by parasitic heat management
– Clever choices on thermal zone temperatures and number of cryogenic stages have a large impact on total parasitic
heat and thermal design complexity within each zone
• Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADRs) can be used for cooling detectors to sub-Kelvin
temperatures, and may reject their heat onto a more conventional cryocooler cold tip at single-Kelvin
temperatures
– However, the amount of heat that they are able to extract is on the order of mW or µW, which emphasizes the
criticality of using isolative materials to minimize conductive parasitics to the coldest regions, so that detector heat
makes up the bulk of the total heat that the ADR extracts
– ADRs also have their associated (room-temperature) control electronics, which represent an additional heat load to
manage and possibly a separate radiator from the cryocooler radiator
• Other low-Kelvin or sub-Kelvin cooling methods have included: cryostat / dewar with a working fluid or
solid, dilution refrigerators, Helium sorption refrigerators
• Harness heat intercepts are a good method for conductive parasitic heat management: electrical wires
are conductively “sunk” to an intercept plate at a certain temperature, to minimize the amount of heat
transmitted via those wires into the next colder thermal zone
– These intercept plates can be passively cooled, or tied to a particular cryocooler stage
– Detector, cryocooler, and ADR components all may have their own electrical wires traveling to cold
cryogenic zones
• Material choices and harness lengths can have a large impact on parasitics
• Bookkeeping these parasitics is quintessential to thermal management here, even if certain
wires seem trivial (like to thermal sensors, for example)

34 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Laser Instruments
• Lasers typically have very tight thermal stability and gradient requirements, yet dissipate large amounts
of heat
– Loop Heat Pipes (LHPs) and other more complex forms of thermal transport and control are often needed for heat
rejection while maintaining hardware within thermal requirements
– Laser control electronics also contribute another source of heat
• Both transmitter and receiver optical benches typically have gradient requirements to preserve
alignment of the optical components
– These can be cold biased and controlled with heaters, or have more elaborate thermal control systems
– Laser may be fiber-coupled so that it is not dissipating its heat directly into the transmitter bench (i.e. thermally
decoupled from the transmitter optics)
• If the detector operates at IR wavelengths, it may require passive or active cryogenic control methods
– Similar to “Passively Cooled Detector” and “Actively Cooled Detector” thermal architectures presented in the
previous slides
– If a cryocooler is used, trades of cryocooler power, reject temperature, and heat lift may be required to optimize
these parameters for the given instrument architecture
– In Earth orbit, Earthshield may be required for passive cooling
– Multiple large sources of heat (cryocooler thermo-mechanical unit (TMU) and electronics, laser transmitter and laser
control electronics, instrument electronics, detector front-end electronics) and different thermal requirements for
each source may result in one large radiator, or several large radiators held at different temperatures
• Grouping of thermal zones and placement of components is critical to thermal management

35 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Laser Instruments: Passively Cooled Detector
Note: If cryogenic temperatures are
required on the detector, combine with
“Actively Cooled Detector” architecture
shown in the optical sections above Radiator
Constant Conductance Heat
Transmitter Optical Components Pipe or Loop Heat Pipe
LEGEND
MLI
Laser Heater
Isolator
Laser Control Heat Strap or
Electronics Heat Pipe
Elec. Wire

Transmitter Optical Bench

Radiator
Heat Strap Detector Enclosure
Receiver Optical Components
Detector

Baffling or Front End

Window Electronics Electronics
Box

Receiver Optical Bench Mounting Plate

36 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 X-Ray Instruments
• X-Ray instruments are often designed with two parts: a “Mirror” or “Telescope” Assembly at the front
end, and a separate “Sensor” or “Detector” Assembly at the focal plane
– These may be at large distances with respect to each other, yet require tight thermal control within and between both
assemblies to ensure alignment (in grazing incidence reflection designs to allow X-ray focus at the detector)
– The Mirror Assembly commonly consists of concentric rings with diffuse inboard surfaces and specular outboard
surfaces (Wolter telescope design), and tight gradient requirements are common
• X-Ray instruments tend to use large format, high-dissipation detectors to acquire their science signals,
along with high-dissipation Front End Electronics (FEE)
– This presents one of the most challenging parts of X-Ray instrument design
– Commonly, X-Ray Detectors and their corresponding FEE are placed in an integrated assembly with tight
temperature control requirements
• This may require active cooling or passive cold bias (with trim heating) to achieve operational temperature and
stability requirements
• Multiple detectors may also share a common, high-conductivity baseplate or enclosure, isolated from the
surrounding environment
• More than one nested passive stage may be required to achieve cooling/stability requirements, or an active
cooling option (such as TECs or a cryocooler) may be necessary. In the most challenging cases, such as for X-
ray Spectroscopy, a cryogenic or sub-Kelvin cooler may be needed
• Detector assembly may require heat straps or heat pipes to transport large volumes of heat to the radiator
• Calibration sources may be integrated as part of the detector assembly
• X-ray filters tend to be aluminum (or other metal)
• Due to the large heat dissipations, radiators can be very large
– Earthshield is a common necessity for Earth-orbiting X-ray telescopes to passively cool to desired temperatures
– Stationary or louvered radiator fins are another option

37 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 X-Ray Instruments
LEGEND
Note: If cryogenic temperatures are MLI
required on the detector, combine with Heater
“Actively Cooled Detector” or “Sub-Kelvin Isolator
Heaters on each concentric ring Detector” architectures shown in the Heat Strap or
for precise control of gradients optical sections above Heat Pipe
Elec. Wire

Radiator
Heat Strap
Heat
X-Ray Filters Pipe

Detector(s)

Electronics
Front End
Plate
Electronics
Detector
Enclosure
Box

Instrument Bench Mounting Plate

• Cold-biased detector enclosure with
heater control
• Separate trim heater on detector plate
for precise temperature control

Telescope Assembly Sensor Assembly or

(Concentric Rings) Detector Assembly

38 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Gamma-Ray Instruments
• Gamma Ray Instruments typically require low Z-energy materials (carbon fibers, plastics, silicon and
other select materials) to minimize background noise so that the science signal can be obtained
– Unfortunately, most thermal hardware is metallic and high Z-energy
– Thermally conductive carbon composites and epoxies are essential for these designs
• Gamma-ray instruments require large numbers of detectors, greatly increasing heat dissipation
– Metallic heat pipes may be unavoidable due to the large quantities of heat to be transported
– However, Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite (APG) is preferable to any metals for heat straps and doublers
• If stacked detector “trays” are used for these designs, it is as essential to flesh out the detailed design
of each tray to ensure adequate thermal control and heat rejection as it is to manage the overall
thermal design
– Note that a small change or improvement to one tray propagates to all trays, and therefore may have a huge impact
on overall instrument resources
– Front-End Electronics (FEE) for these trays may be the largest source of heat
– Harness conductance must be considered as a significant vehicle for heat transport

Detector Tray
Detector Tray

Radiator
Detector
Detector Tray
Detector Detector
Detector Tray
Front-End Heat
Electronics
Detector Tray Pipe
Detector Tray
Detector Tray

Composite or other Low-Z

Instrument Bench
Energy Structure

39 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Astronaut-Operated, Internal
• This slide pertains to instruments operated by astronauts within the International Space Station (ISS)
or another crewed environment
• Unlike prior instrument examples, convection is now a dominant form of heat transfer since this is
assumed to be operated within a pressurized crewed environment
– However, transfer vehicle to the ISS may not be pressurized: the instrument needs to be designed
for launch/transfer as well as nominal operations once it’s installed
• Instrument heat is typically rejected via a convective interface, whether through ducted air or piped
fluid
– There are typically strict requirements for the quantity of heat that can be rejected from the
instrument to these interfaces
– Instrument-mounted fans may be installed for convective cooling
• Design challenges
– Convective interfaces to crewed vehicles may supply cooling air or fluid at a large range of
temperatures (also may be impacted by dissipations of neighboring instruments)
– Free convection in microgravity is much lower than on Earth
• Example: EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack instrument
installation on the ISS
– Interface documentation for EXPRESS racks require that instrument thermal control systems:
• Correctly interface with rack-provided payload cooling provisions
• Adhere to limits on temperature of returned air
• Avoid rejecting sensible heat into ISS cabin air
• Avoid rejecting heat conductively via instrument-to-EXPRESS rack interfaces
• Maintain astronaut touch surfaces around room temperature
40 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Astronaut-Operated, External
• This section pertains to instruments used during astronaut Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs), whether
in space or on a lunar surface mission
• Astronaut-deployed external instrument thermal designs are highly dependent upon their operational
scenarios, and prior to any design work, these top-level design decisions must be solidified:
– Concept of operations (duration of deployment, operational cadence, extent of astronaut
interaction, instrument placement or relocation, onboard power dissipations vs. time)
• Will the instrument thermal design be sized for a particular operational scenario or is it meant to
be versatile for a range of scenarios?
– Operational environment (spaceflight vs. surface operations)
• If Lunar surface operations: the environment is highly dependent on time and location on the
moon; understanding solar illumination for the landing location during the duration of the surface
mission is a critical input to thermal analysis
• NASA’s Artemis Program provides useful guidelines for instrument
design, especially for astronaut touch surfaces or interfaces
– Typically, astronaut touch surface temperature requirements are
between -43 to 63°C: handled surfaces may require active heating
• Heat sources and sink temperatures change rapidly between areas
with and without solar illumination
– Unless there is a placement orientation requirement, assume there is
no dedicated “cold” side to the instrument for radiator placement
• Operations in lunar shadowed regions may require large amounts of
heater power, especially to keep batteries within operational limits
Image Source: NASA
41 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 Astronaut-Operated, External: Lunar Surface
• Lunar South Pole example LEGEND
MLI
Heaters on Heater
Astronaut Touch Isolator
Surfaces

Radiator

Instrument
Solar Flux Vector
vs. Time

Thermally Isolating
Feet

Lunar Surface

42 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Instruments on Robotic Planetary Landers
• Robotic planetary lander thermal designs are highly dependent upon their operational scenarios and
operational environment, including:
– If the planetary or celestial body has an atmosphere
– How long the instrument is required to survive, especially in extreme heat scenarios (like the
Venusian surface) or extreme cold scenarios (like Lunar Night)
– Accommodations for all phases of the mission, including cruise and descent
• Typically, landers have multiple instrument packages on their decks
– These may include instruments like mass spectrometers or gas chromatographs, which have high
power dissipations in operation
• Although these instruments typically use transfer gases / calibrants and have extensive plumbing, a first-cut
thermal design does not require modeling of all these components: thermal control can be assumed at a
mounting board or box level
• However, their reservoir tanks may require additional thermal control
– A good understanding of instrument concept of operations is required to determine which
instruments are dissipating heat at which points in the mission
– For some lander or rover architectures, they may have pumped fluid loops to maintain thermal
control across multiple instruments and send their heat to a common radiator
• In extreme environments, unconventional or exotic thermal hardware may be needed
– Pressure vessels can be used to shield electronics and instrumentation from temperature
extremes
– Paraffin Phase Change Materials may prevent excessive heating or cooling for components
attached to them
– Heat switches allow conductive decoupling from surrounding environment

43 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Robotic Planetary Landers: Surface of Venus
• Example of a probe on Venus

Heat Sink
Pressure Vessel
with thermal
Fluid Loop
insulation
Instru- Instru-
ment 1 ment 2
Penetrations Detailed knowledge of
through the Instrument Deck with temperature profiles and
pressure vessel are convective coefficients through
major sources of
Embedded PCM
the atmosphere is necessary
parasitic heat Thermal Isolators from for thermal design of the
Deck to Pressure Vessel
descent phase (from Taylor,
Thermally Isolating 2014 [9])
Feet

Venusian Surface
44 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022
 CLOSING REMARKS

45 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Summary and Conclusion

SUMMARY
• This lecture presented the thermal design processes of NASA Goddard’s Instrument
Design Laboratory as a guideline for rapid thermal design, modeling, and analysis
• Specific tall poles and/or lessons learned were also presented for instruments across the
electromagnetic spectrum

CONCLUSION
• The most effective and efficient methods for thermal engineers to quickly perform thermal
modeling and analysis for conceptual designs is to:
– Identify the worst-case environmental scenarios through simple models and perform
instrument thermal design to those worst-cases
– Coordinate with other subsystem engineers to solidify boundary conditions, instrument
mechanical design, and worst-case heat dissipations
– Understand thoroughly the specific type of instrument you’re designing to and what the
design drivers are
– Design to the “heart” of the instrument: Which details must be included? Which details
can be left out? Determine what is thermally challenging and important
– Quantify engineering resources and identify tall poles for the next design iteration

46 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank

Jennifer Bracken
for her support and sponsorship of this effort

Carl Kotecki, Steven Rickman, and Ruth Amundsen

for their diligent review and excellent recommendations for
the content in this course

47 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 List of Acronyms

Acronym Definition Acronym Definition

α Absorptivity EXPRESS EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station
A/L Area / Length FEE Front End Electronics

ADC Analog-to-Digital Conversion g gram

ADR Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator GaN Gallium Nitride detector

APG Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite Ge:Ga Gallium doped Germanium Photoconductive detector

BOM Bill of Materials GSE Ground Support Equipment

°C degrees Celsius GSFC NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

CAD Computer-Aided Design (model) HEB Hot Electron Bolometer detector

HgCdTe (or
CCD Charge-Coupled Device detector Mercury Cadmium Telluride detector
MCT)
CdZnTe (or
Cadmium Zinc Telluride detector IDL Instrument Design Laboratory (at NASA GSFC)
CZT)
CMOS Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor detector IEB Instrument Electronics Box

CsI Cesium Iodide Scintillation detector InGaAs Indium Gallium Arsenide detector

ε, ε* Emissivity, effective emissivity InSb Indium Antimonide detector

EMCCD Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Device detector IR Infrared

EVA Extra-Vehicular Activity ISS International Space Station

48 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 List of Acronyms

Acronym Definition Acronym Definition

K Kelvin PI Principal Investigator

kg kilograms pm picometer (10-12 m)

LEO Low-Earth Orbit RF Radio Frequency

ROIC /
LHP Loop Heat Pipe Readout Integrated Circuit / Digital Readout Integrated Circuit
DROIC
MAMA Multi-Anode MicroChannel Array detector S/C Spacecraft

m meter Si Silicon
mCp thermal mass, defined as mass * specific heat SiPM Silicon Photomultiplier detector
Superconducting Tunnel Junction (or Superconductor–
MEL Master Equipment List STJ (or SIS)
Insulator–Superconductor tunnel junction) detector
µm (or um) micrometer (10-6 m) TEC Thermo-Electric Cooler

µW (or uW) microWatt (10-6 W) TES Transition-Edge Sensor detector

mil one thousandth (1/1000) of an inch TMU Cryocooler Thermo-Mechanical Unit

mm millimeter (10-3 m) TRL Technology Readiness Level

mW milliWatt (10-3 W) UV Ultraviolet

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration W Watts

nm nanometer (10-9 m)

49 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022

 References

[1] Larson, W., Wertz, J., D’Souza, B. Space Mission Analysis and Design, 3 rd Edition. ISBN-13: 978-1881883104

[2] Emis, N., Kwack, E., Mikhaylov, R., Lau, D., Miller, J., and Cucullu, G. "Design Overview of the Thermal Control System
for the SMAP Mission," 23rd Thermal Fluids & Analysis Workshop, Pasadena, CA, 2012.

[3] Kim, E., Lyu, C.-H. J., Anderson, K., Leslie, R. V., and Blackwell, W. "S-NPP ATMS instrument prelaunch and on-orbit
performance evaluation," Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, vol. 119, no. 9, pp. 5653-5670, 2014.

[4] Parrish, K., Glazer S., and Thomson, S. "The Cryogenic Thermal System Design of NASA’s James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM)," in International Conference on Environmental Systems,
Rome, Italy, 2005.

[5] Ku, J., Robinson, F., Patel, D., Ottenstein, L. “Thermal Performance of ATLAS Laser Thermal Control System
Demonstration Unit.” 44th AIAA Thermophysics Conference, San Diego, CA, 2013.
[6] Gorman, E. “The NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission: An emerging era of global,
hyperspectral Earth system remote sensing.” SPIE Remote Sensing, Strasbourg, France, 2019.

[7] Fujimoto, R., Mitsuda, K., et al. "Cooling system for the soft X-ray spectrometer onboard Astro-H," Cryogenics, vol. 50,
pp. 488-493, 2010.

[8] Atwood, W.B. et al. “The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Mission.” The Astrophysical
Journal. 697:1071-1102, 2009.

[9] Taylor, F.W. The Scientific Exploration of Venus. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 2014. ISBN-13:
978-1107023482

50 NASA Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop, Sep 6-9, 2022